Fermentation goes fashion with Balenciaga The French Maison innovates once again with unexpected materials

After the hoodie with built-in music, chip bag-shaped bags, and the hybrid pants combining cargo shorts and jeans, Balenciaga has struck again, returning today with a new idea that is just as quirky but this time particularly interesting and progressive: a fermented fabric jacket. At first glance, it looks like a very ordinary leather jacket in Matrix style, but it is actually made from a bio-sourced fabric specifically designed for the House. The fabric, created by the San Franciscan company Gozen, is called LUNAFORM and took no less than 2 years to develop and present to the public. The wait was evidently worth it, as the result is not only surprising but also aesthetically interesting. The fabric uses no animal by-products, thus reducing the carbon footprint of both the brand and its wearer. Indeed, the fabric is a biomaterial made from microorganisms which, after the fermentation process, gives a crumpled effect known to be appreciated by the House's creative director Demna. A small step for Balenciaga, a big fan of textile experimentation since its early days (with, for example, the Gazar, a fabric designed by Cristobal Balenciaga himself), a giant leap for sustainable fashion. Yet, Balenciaga is neither the first nor the last house to offer a piece combining fashion, science, and sustainability.

However, all this mainly concerns leather goods and bags, and there is still much progress to be made in clothing, with Balenciaga remaining among the few brands to offer a larger garment requiring a more significant amount of vegan leather. Although there is still a significant margin for improvement, research and innovations are increasingly frequent. The luxury group Kering, for example, in collaboration with the industrial company Spiber, launched last February "Biosphere Circulation", a project aimed at transforming unused clothing and textiles into nutrients for microbial fermentation and the production of new protein materials. Simply put: clothes are turned into sugar, to produce new threads, which are then reused to make other pieces. It turns out that sugar can be good after all. Yeast is also a key ingredient in vegan fabric production, producing not only an impressive aesthetic result but also surprisingly durable materials. Balenciaga could well lead the way and gently inspire its peers to follow the trend of sustainable faux leather. Hopefully, the future holds for the fashion world, still far from being even slightly eco-friendly, progress and innovations always aligned with ecological challenges, while remaining fashionable and aesthetically captivating.